This information is based on Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). August 2006. U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality documentation from 38 states. HCUP is based on data from community hospitals, defined as short-term, non-Federal, general and other hospitals, excluding hospital units of other institutions (e.g., prisons). HCUP data include OB-GYN, ENT, orthopedic, cancer, pediatric, public, and academic medical hospitals. They exclude long-term care, rehabilitation, psychiatric, and alcoholism and chemical dependency hospitals, but these types of discharges are included if they are from community hospitals.

In 2005, there were about 368,600 hospital stays for infections with MRSA (an antibiotic-resistant bacterium). Hospital stays for these infections more than tripled after 2000 and increased nearly tenfold after 1995. The increase from 2004 to 2005 was 30 percent.

The highest rate of MRSA hospitalization was among the elderly—360.8 MRSA stays per 100,000. This was more than three times higher than for any other age group: 114.7 stays for infants, 19.2 for 1- to 17-year-olds, 58.1 for 18- to 44-year-olds, and 111.5 for 45- to 64-year-olds per 100,000 discharges

[On average about 1 in 20 (5%) died. The figures do not break out necrotizing fasciitis infections where the death rates are from 20 to 73%].

HCUP is a family of powerful health care databases, software tools, and products for advancing research. Sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HCUP includes the largest all-payer encounter-level collection of longitudinal health care data (inpatient, ambulatory surgery, andemergency department) in the United States, beginning in 1988. HCUP is a Federal-State-Industry Partnership that brings together the data collection efforts of many organizations—such as State data organizations, hospital associations, private data organizations, and the Federal government—to create a national information resource.

For more information about HCUP, visit http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/.

HCUP would not be possible without the contributions of the following data collection Partners from across the United States: